Blue Jays outfielder Dalton Pompey had his bell rung at the 2017 World Baseball Classic playing for the national team, but when the phone rings from Baseball Canada, he still answers the call.

The Mississauga native will lead the Canadian team at the Pan American Games qualification tournament Jan. 29-Feb. 3 in Ibiuna and Sao Paulo, Brazil. In addition to Canada, the eight-team field includes host Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela, with the top four teams gaining entry into the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Pompey suffered a concussion at the 2017 World Baseball Classic and was subsequently placed on the 60-day disabled list by the Blue Jays and did not make an appearance with the club in the 2017 season. Last year, he appeared in only five games for Toronto and 52 in the minors, where he hit a combined .272. Despite the concussion, he still insists on playing for his country. If only all of Canada’s basketball players were that patriotic.

“Dalton expressed an interest in competing for this great country and we fully support him,” Blue Jays manager Ross Atkins said on Thursday. “It’s a good opportunity for him to get some (at-bats) in a competitive environment leading into spring training.”

Even though he is still only 26, Pompey seems to have become the forgotten man in the Jays’ outfield. He has speed, range and some pop, and is a Canadian — which former manager John Gibbons used to say “doesn’t hurt” — but seems to have fallen on the club’s depth chart with the likes of Randal Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez, Anthony Alford and Billy McKinney in the mix to join Kevin Pillar in the outfield this season for the Jays. Dwight Smith Jr. and Jonathan Davis also seemed to have passed Pompey in the team’s outfield depth chart, despite the fact Pompey is physically gifted and has been a fan favourite in Toronto.

Still, Pompey remains on the Jays’ 40-man roster. He’s had to deal with a number of injuries the past couple of seasons and was also suspended without pay by the Jays in August after an altercation with triple-A Buffalo Bisons manager Bobby Meacham during a game.

There will be a large contingent of Jays alumni at the Pan Am qualifiers. Team Canada will be managed by former Jays catcher Ernie Whitt (the 15th time Whitt manages Team Canada) with a coaching staff that includes former Jays Paul Quantrill, Tim Leiper and Denis Boucher. Former National League MVP Larry Walker and Greg Hamilton round out the coaching staff. Former Jays outfielder Michael Saunders and right-hander Scott Richmond are included on a roster that will feature seven players who have played in the big leagues, including RHP Phillippe Aumont, RHP Chris Leroux, LHP Adam Loewen and RHP Dustin Molleken. Pompey will be joined by his brother Tristan on the squad.

The Blue Jays shuffled the deck on the minor-league manager front on Thursday in the hopes of coming up with a winning hand.

Bobby Meacham remains the man in charge at triple-A Buffalo, but Mike Mordecai, who was the quality-control coach under manager John Gibbons in Toronto last year, will manage the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2019, taking over from John Schneider, who joins new Jays manager Charlie Montoyo’s coaching staff this season.

The organization also made a number of internal coordinator promotions. Candaele, the former Dunedin manager, has been named Practice Design/Skill Development Coordinator, and Hunter Mense named minor-league hitting coordinator after spending the 2018 season as New Hampshire hitting coach.

Additionally, former Dominican Summer League Manager John Tamargo Jr. has been named Latin American Field Coordinator, and making his coaching debut is former player Antoan Richardson named outfield coordinator, after serving as the baseball operations fellow in 2018 with the organization. The Player Development department has a number of additions for the upcoming season. Joining the organization will be Doug Mathis from the Seattle Mariners, who will serve as pitching coach in Buffalo.

JAYS SIGN PITCHER PHELPS: REPORT

There are reports that the Jays have signed RHP David Phelps to a one-year deal with a club option for 2020. Phelps suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on March 21, 2018 and missed the entire season. He pitched to a 3.40 ERA in 2017 in 55.2 innings pitched.